InMobi debuts new game monetization solution; $25M fund for indie game devs

Mobile advertising network InMobi has introduced new monetization solutions for game developers alongside a $25 million fund for indie game developers.

The company claims that these solutions will enable developers to optimize their monetization strategies based on the emotional state of players and their game play experience as they move through different stages of the game. This solution will provide game developers various ad formats including:

Playable Ads – Users will be offered 20-40 second interactive ads, which will allow them to try out the game being advertised from within the main game. InMobi worked with Palo Alto-based app virtualisation company Voxel to develop this ad format.

Video Ads – Offers 15-30 second video ads which the company says is ideal for breaks like level wins within a game. Remember that InMobi had introduced its context-aware, interactive mobile video ad platform in February this year. This platform offers advanced video ad formats like Interactive Canvas, Video SmartAds, Video Continuum and Form Capture .

Rewarded Ads – Users can earn rewards like virtual currency for specific actions like watching a video Ad or interacting with a Playable Ad.

Besides this, the solution will also apparently include an analytics platform, partner management and creative consulting services among others.

$25 million Indie game developers’ fund

Along with this solution, InMobi has also setup a $25 million fund for indie game developers which will apparently equip them to increase their app revenue through better monetization. However from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like a regular corporate investment fund, rather it looks an initiative from InMobi to increase its game developer base by providing various advisory services.

InMobi says that game developers will have to sign up with InMobi by Dec 31, 2014, integrate the InMobi SDK and send them traffic on a priority basis.

The company will then work with app developers to provide advisory services like global scaling, monetization, and ad experience creation to developers. It will also apparently provide developers guaranteed monetization if they meet the company’s criteria on volume and quality of ad requests. Update: InMobi has informed that it will not be providing any capital to app developers.

Note that Mobile games company Nazara Technologies had also setup a Rs 5 crore seed fund for game development companies in India last November. Nazara CEO and Founder Nitish Mittersain had told Medianama that it will initially focus on Indian studios that are looking at the global market and at those developing India specific content through this fund and will pump in 25-50 lakh to game development companies.

It was focusing on early stage developers who have just started making a game or are in the process of developing a game and those who have already launched on app store, but need more support in terms of scaling it up. More on Nazara’s seed fund plans here.